Snow Petals
by shadow282
Summary: Collection of short, one-shot White Rose stories, often with a side of Bumbleby. Expect lots of fluff.
1. Birthday Present

**These are all going to be short, simple White Rose stories. I wanted a single place to put together any of the random story ideas I had. Essentially just a place for a lot of fluff. There won't be any real connectivity between the chapters except the fact that, unless otherwise stated, they're all set at Beacon before Volume 3.**

* * *

 **Birthday Present**

"I don't see why you won't just help me out. She's your sister." Weiss said, clearly trying to keep from raising her voice.

"Yeah, and she's _your_ girlfriend. If I pick it out, it won't mean nearly as much. You're a smart girl, why can't you figure it out?" Yang replied, clearly _not_ trying to keep from raising her voice.

Weiss bit back an angry reply and seemed to suddenly deflate. "I don't know, I'm just worried. I've never done this before, I don't want to screw it up."

Yang's expression softened, and her next words came out hushed. "You've never bought a birthday present before?"

"Of course I have, but I've never bought a present for someone like _her_ before. Someone who doesn't care about my money. Someone who doesn't have any expectations from me. I don't want to just buy something expensive, but I don't know what else to do."

At her confession, Yang shot her a compassionate look. "Fine, I'll help you. I'm not going to come up with any ideas, but I'll help you get started. Let's start with something easy: what does Ruby like?" Weiss started listing things off.

"Fighting, weapons, cookies, strawberries..." Yang held up her hand to stop her.

"Okay, what's Ruby's favorite thing in the world?"

Weiss thought about it for a second. "Crescent Rose?" Weiss didn't see Yang's hand coming fast enough to dodge the light blow to her head. Yang waited a second for her to stop complaining before continuing.

"No, Ruby's favorite thing is _you,_ Weiss. She'll love anything as long as it comes from you. So stop stressing about it and just say the first thing that comes to mind." Weiss sat still for a few moments before she started coming up with ideas. With Yang's help, it didn't take them very long to pick the perfect present. Weiss thanked Yang and got up to leave, already working on planning everything she needed.

/

"Can I open my eyes yet?" Ruby asked.

"Again, no. We're almost back to the room, be patient." Weiss said as she continuing leading Ruby by the hand down their hallway. Weiss led her to the room, guided her through the door, and closed it behind them. Ruby opened her eyes and saw a glorious vision in front of her. There was a table set up in the middle of the room, and on it were plates and plates of cookies. Cookies of seemingly every color, flavor, and shape. Ruby felt her mouth begin to water simply from looking at them. She stood there for a second, speechless, already planning out the best place to start.

"That's just the main course." Weiss said as she walked around in front of her. "Wait until you get a taste of dessert." Weiss stepped forward and pulled her into a deep kiss. Ruby felt the usual heat from her lips, felt the usual thrill run through her body that someone this incredible wanted to be with her. But underneath it all, there was something making it even better. It took her a second to realize what was different. It was a delicious taste. The incredible taste of strawberries.

Weiss pulled out of the kiss, smiled at her, and walked to sit down on her bed. "But that's for after you're done. For now, enjoy the cookies."

Ruby had never eaten anything faster in her life.

* * *

 **And there we go. I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **As for new chapters, I'm not going to commit to any real schedule. I'll post new ones whenever I come up with an idea I like. Which will probably mean sometimes weekly chapters and sometimes monthly or longer.**

 **If you did enjoy it, check out my similar Bumbleby collection "Queen of the Hive". Essentially the opposite of this, Bumbleby focused with a side of White Rose.**


	2. Teaming Up

**Teaming Up**

"Hey Rubes, we need to talk." Yang said as she walked into the room. Her tone was, for once, completely serious, and Ruby instantly felt worried. Yang closed the door behind her and sat on the bed before speaking again. "It's about your team attack names."

At that, Ruby's mood brightened. She was incredibly proud of her attack names, and she couldn't think of any reason Yang would be worried about them. "They're awesome, right? I put a lot of thought into those."

"Yeah, actually, that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. I know you're excited to finally be dating Weiss, but don't you think they're a little on the nose?"

"Nope, no idea what you mean. They all seem great to me."

"Really? Let's go through some of them, then. How about White Rose?"

"What, is that not clear enough? It's Weiss and I attacking together, I thought that was pretty obvious."

Yang gave her an annoyed look. "So you're just going to pretend you don't know that's your couple name around the school?"

"You know I don't pay attention to stuff like that! It's an intense battle, I want each to be obvious enough we don't need to think about it." Ruby replied. "Even if it's our "couple name", it still works best."

"If that's how you want to be, fine. What about Ice Flower, then?" Yang asked, her tone growing exasperated.

"I shoot through Weiss' glyphs, she used ice Dust, it comes out looking like a flower. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, besides the fact that you call Weiss your little Ice Flower when you think nobody can hear you." Ruby felt her face begin to flush.

"That's private, how could you possibly know that?" She demanded. She had always been careful to say it out of people's earshot.

"We live with a cat Faunus, Ruby. She can hear everything." Ruby had forgotten about that little detail, and she felt her face begin to flush even more as she wondered how much _everything_ was.

"Whatever. It's a fine description of that attack, I'm not changing it." Ruby replied.

"Fine. Those aren't even the worst ones. How about "Cuddle Together"?"

"It's abbreviated, it's for "come huddle together". We need things to be brief in hectic combat."

"Come on, you know exactly what that means Ruby! And how about your one for tactical retreat, "Make-Out Time"? I barely even want to touch that one!" Yang yelled, clearly getting annoyed with the conversation.

Ruby sighed. Maybe the names were a little on the nose, but she liked them. And, more importantly, she liked Weiss having to yell them out in combat. But, she figured she should at least try to placate Yang. "Fine, I'll think about changing some of them. Happy?" Yang nodded.

"With that out of the way, let's talk about Blake and my attack names." At hearing that, the worry came back to Ruby and she started looking around for the best place to exit. "Bumblebee?"

"Yeah, you're yellow and she's black. Like a bee. Obviously."

"Also, _obviously,_ the name you guys came up if we were to get together." Ruby grew a little horrified. Stupid Blake with her stupid super hearing.

"I guess, yeah. Still, I think it works."

"Really? And how does "Kiss Her Already" work? How about "She Has A Thing For Blondes"?" As she kept listing things, her eyes started to turn red. "Or "We Know You Like Each Other? Or-"

Ruby knew Yang was going to keep going, and she knew it wouldn't end well for her. She did the only thing she could think of doing: she activated her semblance and shot out the window. When she looked back, she saw rose petals falling to the ground and Yang sprinting out the door. Ruby knew she would have to hide for a while for this to blow over, but she also knew that teasing Yang like that was worth it.

Plus, who knows, it might even work. Blake certainly hadn't seemed to have an issue with the list when she had seen it. That was a question for later, though. For now, she needed to run.


	3. Endurance Training

**Endurance Training**

"Keep up Weiss! We're almost there!" Ruby yelled back at her. Weiss felt her annoyance spike, and she turned that energy into running faster. She had known that endurance training with Ruby wasn't a good idea, but Ruby had been pestering her about it for weeks. She had finally relented, as much to stop her as because she was right. Weiss really did need to work on her endurance.

Of course, Ruby's definition of training didn't fit her strengths well. Mostly because it involved running a marathon around Beacon. Something which the young woman was annoyingly good at doing. Weiss had managed to keep up from sheer force of will, and even that was beginning to fade. Which is how Ruby had managed to pull so far ahead of her. She tried to control her labored breathing and speed up, but she knew she couldn't keep the pace up for long. Fortunately, they had apparently arrived at their destination because Ruby suddenly stopped. Weiss kept the relief off her face as she caught up to Ruby. She looked around and realized that they were resting in small patch of trees near the edges of Beacon. She had never noticed this place before.

"Why did we stop here?" Weiss asked. She didn't know for certain, but she figured there was something special here that Ruby would use for her next torture disguised as training.

"I thought we could rest from physical training for a while and work on training our aura. I picked somewhere out of the way so we wouldn't get disturbed." Ruby replied. Weiss had absolutely no idea what that meant. She wasn't sure if that was because Ruby was doing something that only made sense to her or if the run had deprived her brain of too much oxygen.

"What does that mean? Training our aura?"

"Blake told me about it a few weeks ago. I walked in on her showing Yang. Apparently, they've been doing it for a while now. Come over here and I'll show you." Ruby's explanation really didn't clear anything up, but Weiss figured maybe Ruby showing her would be better. She walked over to her partner and stood facing her. "Stay still, okay?" Weiss nodded, and Ruby walked forward and pulled Weiss close to her. She barely stopped herself from jumping backwards at the unexpected contact. She had no idea where the little dolt was going with this, but now she was curious.

Then Ruby reached up and put her hands around Weiss' face, and Weiss knew exactly where she was going with it. She knew exactly what Ruby had walked in on her sister doing. This was one of the times when her leader revealed herself as shockingly naive. Weiss tried to pull away, but she found her arms wouldn't come up when she tried to move them. Ruby's presence was right here, and it was so warm and comfortable, that as much as part of her knew she should push away a greater part wanted to stay right here. After all, maybe she was misinterpreting things.

Ruby apparently didn't notice her internal struggle at all. "So what we do now, is we concentrate our auras on our face. And then we push them into contact, and that should strengthen them." Ruby suited actions to words and pulled Weiss into a deep kiss. She felt a wave of pleasure roll through her as the kiss continued on. Finally, Ruby pulled herself back. Her face was flushed completely red, and Weiss knew from the heat coming off her own face that she looked similar.

"I think that worked really well. I definitely feel much better. What do you think, Weiss? Want to try again?" Weiss knew she should tell Ruby. Blake and Yang had very clearly lied to her.

Then again, she didn't _know_ for a fact that this didn't work. Aura was an incredibly complex thing. Maybe this really would strengthen it for both of them. And aura was a vital tool for any Huntress; could she really afford to not try something that might work? One more attempt wouldn't hurt anything.

Weiss nodded at Ruby, not trusting herself to speak. As Ruby pulled her down into another kiss, she realized that it would probably be best to try at least a few more times. Just to be certain.

/

"You need to stop treating your sister like a child." Weiss said as Yang sat down next to her. She had asked to meet her in one of the empty classrooms so they could have a little privacy for their discussion.

"What are you talking about?" Yang asked, her tone entirely innocent. Clearly she was going to pretend she hadn't done anything.

"Ruby showed me your little "aura training" method last night. The one she walked in on you and Blake doing. You need to go tell her she walked in on you making out with Blake before she goes and tries it on someone else."

Upon hearing her words, Yang's face broke into a wide smile, and Weiss got the sudden feeling that she was missing something.

"Weiss, Ruby has never, in her life, walked in on me kissing anyone. And you're right, she's not a child. She knows exactly what kissing is, Weiss."

"But, that means..."

"Yep. It means you were making out with my sister last night. And that Nora won the betting pool on when you would get together."

"That's not fair! She tricked me!"

"Right. And, presumably, you pulled away and explained everything the instant you knew what was happening, right?" Weiss felt her face start to burn from embarrassment, and she couldn't make eye contact with Yang anymore. That's what she had meant to do, but the whole thing had gotten away from her.

Suddenly her embarrassment turned to annoyance. She never would have guessed Ruby was that underhanded. She stood up from her seat and started to run out the door. She was going to go find Ruby and slap her for the trick. Potentially other stuff involving close proximity afterwards, but definitely slapping first. As she raced away, she heard Yang shout something from behind her.

"Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?"


	4. Trick-or-Treat

**Trick-or-Treat**

They were sitting together in their room when Ruby decided to ask one of her questions that didn't make any sense. "What are you guys going as this year?" Ruby asked. Weiss bit back the automatic comment that almost came to her. It had been pointed out to her that she was occasionally a little too critical of her girlfriend, and she was trying to be better. She would wait for the rest of her team to respond before saying anything. Maybe it was possible she was just missing something.

Yang's face lit into a huge smile. "It's a surprise. All I can say is Blakey here is gonna love it."

"I haven't decided yet." Blake said. Well, that wasn't great. Since they both understood it, this was clearly another thing that her Atlas upbringing didn't teach her. Every time it happened was a reminder of her sheltered past, and she hated it.

"But it's only a week away!" Ruby replied indignantly.

"Yeah, so I have six days before I need to worry about it."

"You're impossible!" Ruby said. "What about you, Weiss?" Weiss froze. She still had no idea what the question even meant. She debated fibbing her way through an answer, but she decided against it.

"What are you talking about?" She asked tentatively.

"Your costume silly! What are you wearing for trick-or-treating?"

"What's trick-or-treating?" She would have gotten a less stunned reaction if she pulled out a dagger and stabbed Ruby in her back. She completely froze for a second, as if she was struggling to even comprehend the words, before her face adopted the most horrified expression Weiss had ever seen.

"It's-only-the-greatest-thing-in-the-whole-world-how-do-you-not-know-it?" Ruby said. Weiss didn't know anyone else who could cram so many words into such little time.

"Atlas doesn't have it." She replied. A half second later she was on the floor with her girlfriend wrapped right around her.

"Aww my poor little snowflake missed out on so much!" She said.

"Hey, get off me!" Ruby jumped straight up, pulled Weiss to her feet, and started tugging her out the door.

"We're fixing that right now! Starting with getting you a costume!" Weiss began to protest but cut herself off. There was no reasoning with Ruby when she was this determined. Who knows, it might even be fun.

An hour later, they were roaming around a massive warehouse filled with absurd costumes and smelling like cheap plastic. Weiss had completely given up any measure of control as Ruby dragged her down aisle after aisle looking for "the perfect costume". She finally stopped in front of her pick, and Weiss immediately knew she couldn't possibly wear it. She looked at Ruby holding a black robe with a cheesy plastic grim reaper mask and tried to let her down easy.

"That's not going to work. I'm not wearing that mask, Ruby."

"Why not? It's so cool!"

"Look at it! It can't possibly be sanitary!"

"Ugh, fine, no masks." That led to another half an hour before Ruby stopped in front of another costume she liked.

"How about this?" This one was significantly better. She could definitely see herself wearing it without too much trouble.

"What is it from?"

"A horror movie. It fits you perfectly, I promise."

"Fine."

"Yay! You're going to look incredible!"

/

Weiss looked herself over in the mirror. The costume itself wasn't that complicated. A simple black dress and some makeup on her neck made out to look like bite marks. Apparently, she was the bride from some popular vampire movie. She wasn't sure why Ruby was so keen on it, but she didn't really mind. It wouldn't take her long to get out of it, and she couldn't deny she looked pretty good. She left the bathroom and saw exactly why Ruby wanted this costume for her.

Ruby's red cape was replaced with a black one, and she was wearing pale white makeup with a set of red-stained fangs in her mouth. "Seriously? You made yourself the vampire?"

"Well, yeah, silly. You're my girlfriend, what else would I be?"

"You're such a little dolt sometimes." Before she could reply, Yang and Blake walked through the door.

"Awww, they're matching!" Yang exclaimed. "That's so cute!"

"Shut up. And what are you supposed to be anyway?" Weiss replied. Yang was wearing black shorts and a shirt with "Rarr!" written across it that were both even tighter than usual. She also had tiny little ears on her head and little claws on each of her hands.

"I'm a Beowolf, obviously."

"That's supposed to be a Beowolf?" Ruby asked incredulously.

"Well, a sexy Beowolf. Isn't that right, Blakey?"

"Um, yeah, definitely." Blake responded. Unlike her partner, she was dressed in a proper, non-sexy ninja costume.

"See? Told you she'd love it. Now let's go before everything good is gone."

"Okay, so we just walk around in these, and people give us candy?" Weiss asked as they left the dorm.

"Yep! Isn't it the greatest?" Ruby replied excitedly. Weiss looked at her team. Yang walked with a smug little smirk as Blake tried desperately to not drool, and her clearly ecstatic girlfriend bounced along and grinned at her from ear to ear.

"Yeah, it is."


	5. The Haunted House

**The Haunted House**

Haunted houses were one of the only two things in the world that Ruby found truly terrifying. She had very traumatic memories of Yang excitedly dragging her to one when she was still a little too young for it. The hideous werewolf that had finally driven her over the edge into a sobbing wreck still occasionally haunted her nightmares. She swore years ago that she would never, under any circumstances, go to another haunted house.

Of course, that was before she met Weiss and Blake. Haunted houses were apparently unheard of outside of Vale, and so Yang's annual teasing of her about the incident led to her curious teammates wanting to experience one. Ruby knew she didn't have to go, but there was no way she was going to let her girlfriend go through such a horrible place without her. She had suppressed her fears and insisted she would be fine.

But that statement was from the safety of her dorm room. Actually standing outside the entrance of the house made her a lot less sure she could do this without breaking down again. She was right about to suggest they go back and make sure they locked their door when she felt a warm presence clasp her hand. She looked over to see Weiss staring at her with compassionate eyes.

"We don't have to do go in there if you're scared." She said. Ruby could tell she meant it. One word from her and Weiss would take her anywhere else. But, even though the offer was very tempting, she knew it would be selfish to deny Weiss the opportunity to do something she had never experienced before.

"I'll be okay. Plus, I have you to protect me, right?" As long as she had Weiss, Ruby knew she could do anything. Even this horrible thing.

"Of course." Weiss replied.

"Are you lovebirds coming?" Ruby heard Yang call out. She looked over and blushed furiously when she realized that Blake and Yang were already walking through the doors. They both rushed over to catch up to them, which is why Ruby didn't see the ghost behind the door until he jumped out at Weiss. Ruby immediately froze in utter terror, but when Weiss screamed and clung onto her arm she automatically moved towards the ghost to protect her girlfriend. She was still scared, but even if she was terrified out of her mind she wouldn't let anyone touch Weiss. The ghost leered over them for a few seconds before retreating into the shadows again, and they kept moving through the house.

While they walked, Weiss kept a tight grip on her arm. Whenever something jumped out at them, Weiss couldn't stop herself from letting out a little shriek and tightening her grip. Ruby would get scared too, but the terror that froze her in place never appeared. Each time she would move to put herself between Weiss and the monster, and each time she found herself a little less scared. By the time they reached the last few rooms, the monsters weren't doing more than making her jump a little. They walked out the door, and Weiss moved away from her. Ruby found that she instantly missed the warm presence by her side.

"Did guys have fun?" Yang asked. Ruby looked over to see Yang and Blake wearing matching grins on their faces. They clearly had a blast in there. Ruby started to say no but stopped herself.

"Yeah, I did." She said. "Weiss, was it too scary for you?"

"No. Not as long as you were there." Ruby smiled at Weiss and clasped her hand again, and they walked back to the dorm together.

It took until late that night for Ruby to realize what actually happened in the house. She turned to Weiss lying on the bed beside her. "You were only pretending to be scared!" She said. The more she had thought about it, the less sense it made. Weiss loved scary movies, cowering behind someone else didn't match her personality, and she never showed weakness publicly. It finally clicked when Ruby realized that Weiss' screams had always come a second after she noticed something. Like she had to remind herself each time to act scared.

Weiss met her eyes and shrugged. "Sure, but It worked, didn't it? You're not scared anymore."

"Yeah, it did. Thanks Weiss." Ruby said. She couldn't keep the disappointment she felt out of her voice.

"What's wrong, Ruby?"

"Nothing, really. I guess I just liked being your knight in shining armor. It was nice to think you needed me."

Weiss reached over and cupped her hand behind Ruby's ear. She pulled her head up until their eyes met. A warm flush ran through Ruby's body as her heart started beating faster. "Of course I need you, dolt. For many things. Just not to protect me."

"Like what?" Ruby whispered to her. Weiss responded by kissing her, and Ruby enjoyed the same thrill that always ran through when she was with Weiss. Maybe Weiss didn't need to be protected, but Ruby wasn't about to complain about being needed for this. If every visit to a haunted house was going to end this way, Ruby could hardly wait for next year.


	6. Tag

**Tag**

Weiss was barely paying attention to what she was shoveling into her mouth. All of her focus was on watching for her girlfriend to leap out at her. "Hey Ice Queen, whatcha doing?" She heard Yang ask from next to her. She turned and saw that, judging from her half-finished meal, Yang had been sitting there for a while. She was simply too focused on looking out for Ruby to notice.

"Waiting for your sister to come running at me."

Weiss had already returned to scanning for Ruby, but Yang's obvious excitement was clear from her tone. "Oooooohhhh, is there a lovers quarrel going on? Were you naughty, Weiss?" Weiss used her excellent memory to reach over and slap Yang's arm without needing to look. She waited for Yang's cry of annoyance to fade before responding.

"Of course not. We're playing a game of tag."

Yang whistled. "Ruby got _you_ to play tag? This must be good."

"She bet me a month of studying without complaint if I win."

"And if she wins?" Yang questioned. Weiss didn't answer, but she couldn't stop the blush from creeping up her face. Yang saw it and started laughing. "That bad, huh?"

"It doesn't matter. She's never going to win." Yang was clearly going to press her on it further, but before she could there was a cry from above them. Weiss looked up to see a red blur rapidly descending towards her. She quickly flicked her wrist up and activated her semblance. There was a loud thump as Ruby smashed into the glyph, but it held up against her. She ended up hovering above them, six inches too high to reach Weiss.

"See? She doesn't have a chance. Remember, Ruby, I win at five tonight." She turned and walked away, and Ruby was left stuck on the glyph. Weiss would let it fade when she was at a safe distance. There was no way she would let herself lose this bet.

Ruby tried several more times during the day, but Weiss was always ready for her. Ruby had many skills but being stealthy was not one of them. At the end of the day, Weiss ended up standing outside with Yang. It was 4:58, and she was watching the clock as it slowly counted down to her victory. Right at 4:59, a blur of petals appeared racing towards her. Weiss waited until they were as close as possible before activating the ice Dust in Myrtenaster. The petals rematerialized into her girlfriend, frozen in place by a thick block of ice encasing her legs.

"Nice try Ruby, but it looks like I win."

"It's not over yet, Weiss."

"It will be in twenty seconds." Now that Ruby was safely immobilized, Weiss turned her full attention towards watching the clock. Which is why she didn't see it coming when Yang reached over and shoved her towards Ruby. The unexpected blow forced her forward, and Ruby tapped her on the arm as she fell past.

"Hey look, it's five o'clock. Guess you lose, Weiss." Yang said. Weiss shot her a betrayed look.

"You cheated!"

Yang only shrugged at her. "All's fair in love and tag, Weiss. Have fun you guys!" Yang said as she walked away.

Weiss turned her outrage onto her encased girlfriend. "Enlisting your sister isn't fair!"

"I didn't. She did it on her own. Now let me out, we need to prepare for tonight. Unless you're planning on going back on your word?" Weiss swallowed hard. She didn't want to do it, but a Schnee never went back on a promise.

/

Later that night, she was lying on her bed wearing a ridiculous princess dress. "This is absurd, Ruby. I can't believe you're making me do this."

"Shhhhhh! I haven't kissed you yet, so you're still under the evil queen's curse."

"You're such a child sometimes."

"Yeah, but you know you love it." Ruby's tone was incredibly smug, but Weiss still couldn't keep the slight smile off her face. After all, she wasn't wrong.


	7. Afterlife

**Afterlife**

When Weiss opened her eyes, she was lying on a bed softer than she could have imagined. She remembered Cinder killing her seconds ago, but all the pain and emotions she had been feeling were gone. Whatever was happening down there was no longer relevant to her existence. She figured she should be sad or worried or a million other things, but all she felt was an overriding sense of peace. She got up and looked around to see that she was sitting in her old dorm room at Beacon. It took her a few seconds to realize this through the vast changes. Instead of the haphazard bunk beds, the beds were orderly laid out on the floor. Instead of the usual bundle of blankets and pillows, each bed was as perfectly made as her own. The floors were similarly spotless for the first time ever, and all her teammates' belonging were efficiently organized in their own separate spaces.

The door opened, and Ruby walked into the room. Just like the room, her girlfriend's appearance was different. She was dressed in her school uniform, but it had clearly been pressed and ironed. "Good morning, Weiss. Please hurry to get ready, I don't want to be late for class." Ruby said. Her voice lacked the abounding love she always had when talking to Weiss in the past, but it was still present as an undercurrent that Weiss could understand. The same exact tone Weiss always used with Ruby. It was the proper way for adults to convey affection.

Weiss quickly got dressed and left the room with Ruby for class. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but the mystery really didn't bother her. Everything would become clear at the right time. Ruby walked calmly beside her down the hall. The usual limitless energy that made her constantly bounce around the hall seemed to be completely gone. Walking to class with her girlfriend had never been so uneventful.

Once they reached the classroom, Weiss hesitated before going into the room. Ruby had always given her a kiss before going into their first class, but this time she strolled past without a word. Weiss followed without letting it bother her. Public displays of affection in the school were inappropriate anyway. They sat down together, and as Professor Oobleck began talking Ruby dutifully pulled out her notebook and started taking extensive notes on everything he said. Weiss was glad it finally seemed like she was taking classes seriously. After class, they met up outside the room. Weiss expected Ruby to grab her hand, but they remained firmly at her side. Which was definitely fine with Weiss; trying to hold Ruby's hand and deal with her heavy books was sometimes exhausting.

"We should go to the library tonight after school. We need to start on the paper we just got."

Weiss had already planned on beginning it tonight. It might not be due for a month, but that was no reason to put off doing it. She probably shouldn't be surprised this Ruby wanted to join her. "You're right, of course. We can go right from our last class."

The rest of the day passed similarly, and the two of them walked over to the library and got to work. Weiss had never been to the library with Ruby and not had to remind her to be quiet, but today she sat down and silently got to work. Weiss looked over her shoulder to see that even Ruby's handwriting was different. The illegible chicken scratch was replaced with perfection.

Weiss took a second to regard her new girlfriend. Everything about her was prim and proper, and Weiss supposed if she was still capable of it her heart should have skipped a beat. Ruby had become the exact type of woman Weiss was raised to love. Weiss felt like she should be ecstatic. This Ruby was the perfect match for an Atlas heiress. She was studious, controlled, organized, and formal.

But, most important, completely and utterly boring. Despite all her other flaws, there was nothing Weiss didn't enjoy doing with the old Ruby. Right now, she didn't think she could spend another second in here with this one. "Do you want to take a break. Maybe go do something fun?" Weiss asked.

Ruby gave her a confused look. "But there's still a lot of work to be done. Finishing off work is the only fun I need."

"Come on. Let's go play a game for a while?" Weiss pleaded.

"Weiss, you're being ridiculous. Please sit down and get back to work." Ruby replied.

"No!" Weiss yelled. There was a sudden feeling of panic that flared up inside her. "I don't want you! I want my adorable dolt of a girlfriend back!" She shot up and ran out of the library, not bothering to keep the tears from falling. It simply wasn't fair. She shouldn't only realize how much she loved the childish hyperactive dorkiness of her girlfriend after those things disappeared. Prim and proper was a lien a dozen, but there was only one of her Ruby.

Weiss was only a few feet out of the library when she stopped. There was a sudden pressure all around her head, as if it was being squeezed in a vise, and she collapsed to the ground under it. It got tighter and tighter, and she closed her eyes to try and shut out the world. Right when she thought she couldn't possibly take anymore, she heard a loud snap and the pressure completely disappeared.

/

When Weiss opened her eyes again, she was on the hard stone floor surrounded by her friends. Jaune's hand was on her stomach, and it was spreading something tingly yet oddly invigorating through her, but that didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was her girlfriend kneeling beside her, tears of worry shining throughout her gorgeous silver eyes.

"Are you okay? I was so worried about you!" Ruby asked. It looked like it was taking all of her self-control to avoid throwing herself at Weiss in relief. Weiss ignored her question, sat up, grabbed the back of Ruby's neck, and pulled her into a deep kiss. It went on and on, and none of the peace she had experienced could hold a candle to how incredible she felt being with her love. Even when they separated, Weiss refused to move her hand off Ruby.

"I saw the most horrible nightmare. Promise me you'll never change, okay?" Ruby, clearly confused, simply nodded. Whatever energy possessing her evaporated after that, and Weiss collapsed back onto the ground. She felt Jaune continuing to spread energy into her, but she didn't look at him once. Her eyes stayed locked on her perfect girlfriend.


	8. What's in a Name?

**What's in a Name?**

Weiss enjoyed the warmth of the sun shining down on them as she laid peacefully on the blanket with her girlfriend. She had her arms around Ruby as the younger woman laid her head on Weiss' shoulder. Ruby was idly twirling a strand of Weiss' hair together as they enjoyed the afterglow of a long pleasant picnic in the park. Now that they had finally come out as a couple, this was something they could do the entire summer. They could spend every day lounging together in the sun. It was perfect, _she_ was perfect, and Weiss had never been happier.

Of course, coming out as a couple did raise one thing that she wasn't entirely thrilled to address. But Ruby insisted having pet names was vitally important to their relationship, and Weiss didn't have the heart to turn her down. "How about Weissy? It seems to work for Yang." Ruby asked. Weiss suppressed a shudder. It wasn't the worst nickname Ruby had come up with in the last ten minutes, but it was close.

"How about we don't take naming suggestions from your sister? Unless you'd like me to start talking about the Rubooty."

"Eww, no thank you. Your turn."

Weiss gave it a few minutes of thought before she spoke. "What about Ru? Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue."

"Um, maybe. But I think you can do better. How does Honey sound?"

Weiss immediately shook her head. It wasn't that bad, but Yang's nickname for her own relationship made it impossible. "Absolutely not. Yang would be making bumblebee puns within a week, and I'm not dealing with that."

Ruby grimaced. She clearly hadn't thought of that. "Fair point."

"How about Dear?"

"Too formal. Makes us sound like we're old women. Baby?"

"Too informal. Makes me feel like I'm a child." Weiss said. It was her turn so she gave it a few more minutes of thought, but she honestly couldn't come up with anything. "Why do you care about this so much?" Weiss asked instead. Ruby was silent for long enough that Weiss thought she was going to ignore the question before she started speaking softly.

"My father used to call her his Petal. At least, that's what Yang says. I was too young to remember it." The anguish in her voice was so intense that Weiss could feel it, and she instantly resolved to never let anything bad happen to Ruby again. She would rather die than ever cause her to feel like this. "He'd say that she bloomed in front of him when he was at his lowest and showed him that life could be beautiful again. I always wanted that, when I grew up. To know that kind of love, to feel that close to someone. I guess I just associated the nickname with that feeling. It's stupid, childish."

Weiss shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. "No, it isn't. It's beautiful. Just like you." Ruby looked up and smiled at her, and Weiss thought her heart might burst from the intense love she felt. Sudden inspiration hit her, and she smiled back at Ruby. "You can be my Rose. The beautiful flower that showed me there was so much more to life than I ever imagined."

"Then you'll be my Snowflake. Gorgeous, wonderful, and utterly unique. There's no one and nothing like you in this world, my little Snowflake."

"There's no one who could make me happier, my sweet Rose."


	9. Heart of a Poet

**Heart of a Poet**

 _Roses are red  
_ _Violets are blue  
_ _You're very pretty  
_ _And I like you_

Ruby stared at the words on the page for a few seconds before grabbing the paper, balling it up in frustration, and tossing it into the trash. It joined a distressingly large pile of similar failures. "I don't get why this is so hard. I know what I feel, but it always comes out wrong."

"Because you don't have the heart of a poet. Unlike some of us." Yang said from her bed. Ruby scowled over at her.

"Oh yeah? Then what can you come up with, O master poet?" Yang pulled a piece of paper out, scribbled a few lines on it, and tossed it over to her with a smirk.

 _Roses are red  
_ _Violets are blue  
_ _Blake's totally hotter  
_ _But I'd rather boop you!_

Ruby glared at her. "You're not helping."

"Because nothing can help you, Ruby. Face it, you're not going to be able to come up with a stirring and romantic poem that captures Weiss' heart. You can try forever, but it's not happening."

"Then what am I supposed to do? Weiss deserves something fancy from me since I'm finally asking her out. Especially on Valentine's Day."

Yang laughed. "If Weiss wanted someone fancy and refined, she wouldn't be crushing on you. You're a lot of things, sis, but refined isn't one of them. Be yourself, and she'll be happy with it."

"Maybe, but I want her to be more than happy. I want her to be ecstatic, and that's going to require one of these working." Ruby put Yang's doubts out of her mind and focused on the page again. Maybe something a little more complicated would work better. She picked up her pen from the table and started writing.

 _I like you more than you can know  
_ _And every day I watch it grow  
_ _With every moment of time that flies  
_ _Your beauty soars within my eyes_

"That's better." Yang said when Ruby read it out. "But isn't the entire point to bring across how much you like her? And "beauty soars" isn't really a thing."

"It's artistic license." Ruby said, but then she sighed. It sounded lame even to her. Another failure was added to the pile, and she picked up her pen once again.

 _Long hair as white as snow  
_ _That smile only you can show  
_ _Light blue eyes, cold as ice  
_ _The lovely face of my dear Weiss_

"Don't you think cold as ice sounds kind of insulting?" Yang asked when she finished. And, again, her sister had a point. She tried to rework it, but nothing she could think of would fit there. She got rid of this attempt too and put her head against the desk in defeat.

"Maybe try a different kind of poem? They don't all have to rhyme. How about a haiku?" Yang suggested. Ruby decided to give it a chance. It could hardly go worse than her previous attempts. Counting syllables took longer than rhyming, but eventually she got something she thought worked.

 _Happy Valentine's Day  
_ _I really like you a lot  
_ _Want to get dinner?_

She read it to Yang, finally happy about one of her poems, but Yang's immediate reply crashed her good mood. "Sorry Rubes, but the first line is six syllables." She counted it again and sighed. She'd dropped a syllable in Valentines, and now the whole thing was ruined. She crumpled it up and tossed it onto the now overflowing pile in the garbage. Clearly changing the type of poem wasn't helping.

"I'm going for a walk." Ruby said as she stood up. Maybe taking a break would help give her some inspiration. She left their dorm and walked around Beacon for a while, trying her best to come up with anything. But, no matter how much she walked, nothing she could think up was good enough for Weiss. She finally decided to give up for the night and go back to the dorm. When she reached her room, she opened the door before stopping dead. Weiss was sitting at their desk, Ruby's piles of crumpled up failures neatly stacked in front of her. Ruby stood still, heart racing and completely unsure of what to say.

"The trash can was overflowing, and I wanted to see how you filled it in only a few hours."

"Uh, I can explain." Ruby said. "I was trying to come up with a poem to ask you out for Valentine's Day, but I'm not very good."

Weiss laughed as she walked over to Ruby. "I think they're incredible. Although they do leave me with one question." She grabbed Ruby's waist and pulled her close until they were almost touching each other. "Will you be my Valentine, Ruby?" Weiss asked softly. Ruby, too afraid speaking would ruin the moment, could only nod. Weiss responded with that beautiful smile, and Ruby had never felt happier.


	10. Bad Date

**Bad Date**

Weiss couldn't tear her eyes away from the clock on her scroll. Ever since Ruby left, every second felt like an hour, and every minute felt like an eternity. Every passing moment raised the possibility that something went terribly wrong. Or, as the creeping fear kept whispering in her ear, something went very, very right.

She knew that fear was selfish of her. Ruby was free to date whoever she wanted. Weiss had no one to blame but herself that she couldn't manage to work up the nerve to ask her out. Ruby was an incredible woman who deserved to be happy with someone. Weiss certainly wished that someone would be her, but every time she tried to talk to Ruby about her feelings the words seemed to get caught in her throat. She was too afraid of being rejected to risk finding out if there could really be something more for them. It was a new and incredibly irritating problem for her, and it was taking her a very long time to solve it. Long enough that this was hardly the first time she'd laid awake waiting for Ruby's return. There had been several dates, and with them countless eternities of watching the clock slowly tick.

The choice of her date tonight certainly didn't help. Jaune was reasonably acceptable, all things considered, and it was hard to find any major flaws in Velvet. But Cardin Winchester was not good enough for her Ruby. She had tried to tell her that this entire week, but those words too hadn't ever been able to come out. She might have been able to stop this if she tried, so she supposed she deserved this horrible feeling now.

Finally, Weiss heard footsteps approaching the door before it opened. Four hours, thirty minutes, and twenty-seven seconds after she left, Ruby walked back in the room. Weiss gave it a few seconds to make it seem like she hadn't been anticipating her arrival constantly before swinging up to sit on her bed. "Hey Ruby, how was the" was as far as she got before she noticed the tears in her partner's eyes. She instantly jumped up, ran over, and pulled Ruby into a hug.

"Hey, it's okay. You're home now." She said. Ruby said nothing beyond sniffling before laying her head against Weiss' shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked softly.

"No." Ruby said. The pain in her voice almost broke Weiss' heart, but she buried it for now. This wasn't the time for her to indulge in her feelings. Ruby needed her to be strong. She pulled back and gently guided Ruby back to her bed. They sat down together, and Ruby again moved her head to Weiss' shoulder. Weiss started stroking her hair as Ruby slowly stopped crying. Finally, she looked over at Weiss.

"We went to dinner, and he was a jerk the entire time. Then, when I refused to go back to his room, he said I wasn't pretty enough for him anyway." Weiss again buried the flashes of rage she felt. That, too, she could indulge at the proper time. Using Myrtenaster, her best Dust, and Cardin's face. Weiss lifted Ruby's eyes until they met her own.

"He's wrong. You're a beautiful woman, Ruby. You're way, way too good for a man like Cardin."

"You really mean that?" Ruby asked. The insecurity in her voice cut Weiss deeply.

"Yes. You're an incredible woman. Ignore Cardin. There's someone out there who can truly appreciate you. I promise."

"Okay, but what if I never meet that person?" She asked. Weiss smiled at her.

"Maybe you already have, and you just haven't realized it yet." Her heart skipped a few beats as Weiss realized what she might have accidentally revealed, but Ruby only nodded.

"Can I sleep in your bed tonight? I don't want to be alone." Ruby asked.

"Of course." They laid down together, and Ruby laid her head right next to Weiss.

"You're a good friend, Weiss." Ruby said. Weiss put her arm around Ruby, and she fell asleep almost instantly. Weiss looked over at her sleeping partner and smiled. Maybe someday she could be something more, but tonight she was content with being a comforting friend.

And tomorrow, she would be a vengeful one.


	11. Date Night

**Date Night**

Weiss walked up to her dark house and opened the door as quietly as possible. It was much later than she'd intended, and she didn't want to wake Ruby up on her way in. Partially out of courtesy for her wife, and partially because she wasn't looking forward to what Ruby was going to say about tonight. She was perfectly fine putting off that conversation for as long as possible. She managed to barely make a sound as she went through the front door and slipped off her shoes. She walked into their dark kitchen, but she had only taken a few steps before the lights suddenly turned on to reveal Ruby sitting in a chair. She looked stunning. A vibrant red dress, the snowflake necklace Weiss gave her for their last anniversary, her favorite red earrings, and her hair all done up all gave the impression she was ready to go out to a night on the town. The only thing breaking that illusion was the look on her face. Ruby's face was built to express happiness, excitement, and love. The anger and disappointment burning in her eyes looked so out of place, and it killed Weiss that not only was she the one who put it there, but it was also well deserved.

"Hey Ruby. I thought you'd be asleep by now." Weiss said.

"Thought or hoped?" Ruby asked sharply.

"Both." Weiss admitted.

"Tough." Ruby said. "This is the third time this month."

"I know, I'm sorry. Something ca-"

"Something came up, and I couldn't get away." Ruby interrupted. "An SDC shipment got delayed or a new design was revealed to be flawed or something else that's obviously more important than date night with your wife."

It hurt her, to hear those words. To think that she could ever give Ruby reason to think she wasn't the most important thing in her life was devastating. "Ruby, it's not like that."

"It feels that way. Every time I'm stuck waiting, every time I get that text from you, it's all I can think. But fortunately, I've come up with a solution." Ruby said, her tone shifting back to normal as she gave that bright, almost childish, smile that Weiss adored. "Starting tomorrow, I'm officially your new secretary. I'll be going everywhere you go and doing everything you do. I'll make sure you stay on a reasonable schedule even if I need to use Crescent Rose to do it." Weiss stifled a laugh at the thought of Ruby sitting in a SDC boardroom. A dozen old men in stuffy suits and Ruby, dressed in her Huntress gear with Crescent Rose slung across her back. Presentations of numbers and strategies and so many slideshows interrupted by sound of Ruby failing to quietly fidget from boredom and too much energy. Leaving the table and the suits covered in white and red rose petals as Ruby sped them out the door the second she thought the meeting should be over. Weiss wasn't sure whether Ruby could stand it long-term or whether it was another of her flights of fancy that would disappear in a week, but she didn't at all mind finding out. Plus, every second Ruby was with her was another one she wasn't out on a dangerous mission dedicating herself to saving everyone possible while completely disregarding the potential risks to herself.

"Deal. But before that, I have a surprise to make up for tonight." Weiss replied. In half a second Ruby was suddenly an inch in front of her, and only years of dealing with Ruby's semblance kept Weiss from jumping backward in alarm.

"Really? What is it, what is it?" Instead of ruining it with words, she grabbed Ruby's hand and pulled her towards the front door. She opened it and moved out of the way with a growing sense of anticipation. Ruby peered outside and was seemingly frozen in shock. A truck was backed up in their driveway, and the door was open to reveal the contents of a hundred boxes of strawberry frosted cookies. Ruby loved them almost beyond reason. She never needed to know that she was practically the only person in Remnant who did, to the extent that Weiss had needed to secretly buy the cookie company so they would keep making them. Ruby eventually unfroze, and Weiss watched as her eyes turned to stars and her mouth practically started drooling. No matter how many times she saw it, watching her wife turn into an excitable child again at the prospect of sweets was amazing.

"Weiss, marry me." Ruby said, her voice almost ecstatic. Weiss laughed.

"We're already married."

"Marry me again."

"Sure, Ruby. Whatever you want."


End file.
